small symptom. Reagan and his administration were entirely silent about AIDS until there were over 20,000 Americans dead, silent that is after they laughed and joked about it in public. That was the sort of civility that Reagan/Bush voters kept rewarding with more power. Civil? Not so much.
Rush Limbaugh called a 12 year old Chelsea Clinton 'the White House dog'. Anyone who wants to pretend that GOP incivility is something new is trying to rewrite history in a way I can not accept.
I really don't care for the posts that claim the GOP used to be civilized and kind. They never were. Anyone who was ever a Republican voted for bigotry, racism and a virulent brand of anti choice sexism which like their homophobia was informed by the religious right.

her letter hectoring calling the obama kids classless and disrespectful of the white house was itself classless and disrespectful of the white house.

But hey, I was in the bar myself, so I can't throw any stones.

She needs some serious counseling to grow as a person and stop using the girl bullying tactics from her teen years.

http://teenadvice.about.com/od/violencebullying/a/girlbullies.htm

"Girls get other kids to gang up on one or more peers as a way of exerting control. Sometimes they incite other children to act out aggressively and sit back to watch the show. They form groups that pick and choose members at random and exclude others without real reason. They form alliances with other social groups in an effort to jockey for popularity and positions of power among peers. All too often the bullying tactics used by girls are brushed off as cruel but normal social interactions."

and

"Having friends is one thing; having friends who work to make others feel that they are not good enough to be included is another. Playing the popularity game in a way that causes fear or inadequacy in others is a form of bullying and it is a common tactic used by girls."

Another great post, Riqster. Abraham Lincoln was Republican.

By the time each of them passed away, they had renounced their party as no longer being "truly republican". The Reaganistas drove a lot of decent people away these last few decades.

They are not interested in public policy, they are only interested in looting public tax dollars from every level of government, from townships to the federal government.

Most people would never vote for them if they were not blinded by racism and class issues.

Here is my favorite quote by LBJ. I think he sums up the GOP campaign strategy very well.
"Late that night in the hotel, when the local dignitaries had finished the last bottles of bourbon and branch water and departed, he started talking about those signs. "I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it," he said. "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." "

From this article:http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/doc/307079109.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+13%2C+1988&author=Moyers%2C+Bill+D&desc=What+a+Real+President+Was+Like%3B+To+Lyndon+Johnson%2C+the+Great+Society+Meant+Hope+and+Dignity

I thought this part from the article was interesting, too. "The question hung in the air. I could almost hear his silent cursing of a press secretary who had not anticipated this one. But then he relaxed, and from an instinct no assistant could brief-one seasoned in the double life from which he was delivered and hoped to deliver others-he said in effect: Most of us don't have a second chance to correct the mistakes of our youth. I do and I am. That evening, sitting in the White House, discussing the question with friends and staff, he gestured broadly and said, "Eisenhower used to tell me that this place was a prison. I never felt freer." "

Most of the article is behind a paywall, unfortunately.